Daniil Medvedev Clinches Sofia Title

22-year-old Russian Daniil Medvedev earned his fourth title since the beginning of 2018 on Sunday, and he made it look easy as he cruised past Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, never allowing the 27-year-old World No.47 a chance to get comfortable.

Medvedev has had a similar effect on many opponents since he has begun his climb up the rankings. His unorthodox strokes and unpredictable playing style seem to confound his adversaries—as he sits back and patrols the baseline comfortably, they seem to be on edge, perhaps a little too much on the back foot.

This was the case again on Sunday as Medvedev won 19 of 22 second-serve return points and broke serve four times on nine opportunities to notch a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Fucsovics.

Daniil Medvedev

The Hungarian put forth a solid performance, but never did manage to get his nose in front of Medvedev, even in a tight first set that saw the pair trade breaks at 3-all before Medvedev broke critically in the ninth game and served the set out promptly from there.

Medvedev broke for 2-1 in the second set with a perfectly angled crosscourt forehand return. It would be all the World No.16 needed, as he saved both break points he faced in the set and broke again at love to seal the match as a Fucsovics forehand sailed long.

The Russian improves to a record of 11-2 in the ATP season. Remarkably, Medvedev won 71 of 103 (68.9 percent) of second-serve return points in the tournament, including 36 of 45 (80 percent) in his semi-final and final rounds.

Fucsovics will rise to approximately 38 in the ATP rankings; his career-high is 35. Medvedev will remain at a career-high 16.

Now, Medvedev will pair up with Karen Khachanov in the Rotterdam doubles event. In their last appearance as a team, the Russians lost in the quarter-final of a Futures event in 2015. Khachanov and Medvedev haven’t been handed an easy draw as they will be meeting 2015 Nitto ATP Finals champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in their Rotterdam opener.